Monemvasia Travel
Monemvasia
Monemvasia (sometimes spelled Monemvassia or Monemvasi) is often called “the Gibraltar of Greece.” The town, on the southeastern coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, is a massive walled fortress that once housed an estimated 50,000 Byzantine Greeks. Today, fewer than a hundred people live year-round on the Rock of Monemvasia; most of the town’s 5,000 residents prefer the port, where cars, supermarkets, and other modern conveniences make up for the lack of historic atmosphere.
Monemvasia, that rocky outcrop connected to the mainland by a mere strip of land (from which fact it derives its name meaning “sole entrance”, rises proudly above the surrounding area, and with its back to the Aegean resembles a ship about to set sail for distant lands. It appears to be doing us a favour by being berthed, thereby making it easier to visit and no longer hiding anything threatening behind its imposing walls.
Many claim that Monemvasia is none other than the ancient Akra Minoa, naval stop of King Minos, however, the entire huge rock broke off from the mainland following a strong earthquake in 375 AD in the southern Peloponesse. Successive building layers of the city that have been unearthed indicate that it was first inhabited “in the sixth year of the Kingdom of the Moors”, that is, in 588 AD when the inhabitants of Laconia fled to the area in search of a safe refuge following raids by barbarian invaders. Many of them went to Sicily, but the rest settled in the southeastern part of the peninsula, so that they would be hidden from view from the mainland. They named the place Monemvasia Megara and built churches, as well as the wall in the Lower City and the one high up on the fortress on the hill of Ghoula.
Malmsey wine
An interesting footnote to Monemvasia’s history is the town’s role in the Malmsey wine trade. Malmsey, a sweet dessert wine made from the Malvasia grape, originated in Monemvasia, which exported large quantities of Malmsey to England in the 15th Century. Today, the name “Malmsey” refers to a type of Portuguese Madeira wine grown from the same grape.
